Demand for wireless information services had led to the development of an ever increasing number of wireless network standards. For example, cellular and PCS networks, to name just two, provide wide area wireless telephone and data services. As the demand for these services increases, portable communication devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) are evolving to support integrated voice, data, and streaming media while providing seamless network coverage from personal area networks (PAN) to wide area networks (WAN). On the wireless WAN side, the prevailing standards are 2G+, 3G and 4G, among others. On the wireless PAN and local area networks (LAN) side, Bluetooth, HomeRF, and IEEE 802.11b standards are emerging as important standards. A Bluetooth network may provide data connectivity between devices such as personal computer and personal digital assistants (PDAs) that are in relatively close proximity to one another. A HomeRF network may provide wireless services at relatively high data rates over a small area of coverage such as a person's home.
Boundaries between wireless WANs (including cellular networks) and LANs (e.g., home wireless LANs and other small pockets of wireless networks) are essentially disappearing as customers demand seamless continuation of service for their mobile communication device as they travel from their PAN to home network and further into the WANs.
However, in general, devices that are compatible with one wireless network are incompatible with other wireless networks. This is due, in part, to each network's use of its own unique set of protocols for facilitating communication between compatible devices.
Moreover, each network typically provides a unique set of services. Networks may provide different data transmission rates, for example, a GSM cellular telephone network typically supports data transfer rates of 64 kilobits per second (kbit/s) while a HomeRF network may support data transfer rates of 2–10 megabits per second. Networks also may provide service having different areas of coverage. For example, cellular networks provide coverage on a continental scale while Bluetooth networks typically provide coverage over the range of approximately 10 meters. Networks also may provide different information content to a user of the network. Legacy cellular telephone networks simply provided voice services. Newer networks such as PCS networks may support voice, data and other information services.
In effect, these disparate networks have created a series of islands of wireless service throughout the geographical landscape, each with its own unique set of protocol standards, data rates, areas of coverage and services. Yet there are no single wireless technologies or standards that effectively satisfy the requirements of desired coverage area (from PAN to WAN) and quality of service (high bandwidth data, voice, and streaming media) for mobile multimedia devices.